Enzymes are proteins which act as a Biological Catalyst. A catalyst alters the rate of reaction without itself changes.

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Background Knowledge:

Enzyme:

        Enzymes are proteins which act as a Biological Catalyst. A catalyst alters the rate of reaction without itself changes.

        Research indicates that enzymes combine with the molecules they act upon (called Substrates) to form an enzyme-substrate complex. The reaction that take place results in products from the original molecule, but leaves the enzyme unchanged.

Enzyme controlled reactions can be either:

  1. Anabolic – Building up larger molecules.
  2. Catabolic – breaking down large molecule into smaller molecules

Enzyme Reaction:

        Enzymes are protein molecules which are usually longer than the substrate. This means that only a small part of the enzyme, called active site, comes into contact with the substrate.

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        Fischer’s hypothesis states that the active site has a special shape like a lock into which the substrate fit like a key.

Above is the ‘Lock and Key’ model

Factors affecting Rate of reaction:

  1. Inhibitor – Enzymes have only one specific substrate. This helps to explain the ‘lock and key’ hypothesis. If the substrate does not have the right shape, it will not fit into the active site. Enzyme activity can be inhibited by molecules having a similar shape to their specific substrate. The inhibitor blocks the active ...

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